To Örebro University

When it comes to Chinese rock music, it is salient to see adjectives such as rebellious, subversive, anti-government and progressive in ethnomusicological research in a long time. What behind these adjectives, is a long-standing academic paradigm towards Chinese popular music studies from the 1990s. In short, there is a stereotypical and preconceived academic trend, leading to a simplistic, homogenous and biased understanding of Chinese popular music, politics, and society.

Instead of considering the fluidity, complexity and diversity, many Western studies understand Chinese rock through a dual privilege approach: Chinese rock versus Western rock, and Chinese rock versus Chinese pop. In detail, the first privilege surrounds the mythology of Chinese rock which means a highly romantic reading of Chinese rock as a counterculture, in order to suit a Western stereotypical image of repressive China and a nostalgia of authentic Western rock ideals. Based on this, the second privilege emphasizes that Chinese rock has a particular cultural value and social significance, while Chinese pop is the opposite -  commercialized, lacking of creativity – as a potential inferior form compared to Chinese rock.

Indeed, China has its special culture, ideology and context, and the tension between rebellious expression and political environment was the main theme in the 1980s and 90s. However, how has this biased trend lasted for 30 years and is still persuasive and prevailing in today’s research? To answer this question, this presentation plans to dissect the stereotypes, misrepresentations, and underlying roots behind a trend of dominant Western academic discourse. By analyzing Chinese modernity, and legacies of Orientalism and colonialism, this presentation provides a reflective approach to study Chinese popular music in a continuous context consisting of Confucian China and Communist China, properly connect ethnomusicological study of Chinese popular music to a broad and dynamic methodology.